1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a manipulative toy having interchangeable appendages, and, more particularly, to such a manipulative toy that includes a body and a plurality of interchangeable appendages, such as arms, legs and heads, said appendages being removably attachable to the body by means of magnetic elements in both said appendages and said body. Said appendages are retained in place by means of the interaction between two sets of complementary ribbed elements disposed on both the body and the appendage, which interaction prevents the appendages from moving or rotating, thereby allowing the manipulative toy to be posed by a user and retain its position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art fails to specifically address either the problem or the solution arrived upon by applicant. Manipulative toys have long been known in the toy industry, and the use of magnets as an attaching means has been used for a wide variety of products, including toys. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,746,638, which issued to Shiraishi on May 5, 1998 for a “Magnetic toy blocks” discloses a block toy composed of a plurality of blocks magnetically connectable to each other, with at least one of the blocks comprising a block main body having plural flat surface portions, magnet holding portions formed on inner sides of the respective flat surface portions, and permanent magnets accommodated within the respective magnet holding portions for rotation about imaginary axes extending at right angles relative to the flat surface portions corresponding to the magnet holding portions.
Furthermore, it has long been known to use magnetic attaching means in manipulative dolls. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,775, which issued to Sato on Aug. 2, 1977 for a “Doll body with magnet and pole pieces and detachable appendages” discloses a doll having a plurality of segments having joint or articulation means which are magnetically and removably coupled to each other. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,888, which issued to Ogawa on Oct. 10, 1978 for an “Articulated magnetic doll” discloses an articulated magnetic toy having removable appendages, including body shells encapsulating a magnet and pair of armature plates, wherein the appendages resemble humanoid arms and legs.
Such manipulative toys need not be limited to dolls, however. Among the myriad of possibilities of shapes and configureations for these toys are animals and other creatures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,515, which issued to Ogawa on Feb. 5, 1980 for a “Toy horse vehicle,” discloses a toy assembly capable of being configured into a simulated horse comprising a body member containing a pivotal connection attached to a joint assembly configured and positioned on the body member to represent respectively the withers and breast of the horse, with magnetically attachable appendage members of various configurations, including a horse's head and the upper torso of a humanoid robot, as well as various removable accessory parts.
Another example of a manipulative toy having an animal configuration is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,260, which issued to Caputi on Nov. 9, 1999 for a “Inter order/family prehistoric lizard display model,” which teaches toy replicas of prehistoric lizards which consist of a replica core body part with interchangeably attachable head, neck, limb, or body armor parts which combine to depict different species within a given biological order or family, said parts being attached by means of ¾″ circular magnets.
Yet another example of an animal-themed manipulative toy using magnetic means to attach the appendages is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,889, which issued to Ejima on Mar. 22, 1994 for a “Magnetically jointed toy for emitting stimuli.” The toy comprises a body constituted by a trunk, and attachments including a head, arms and legs detachably combined with the trunk, which attachments are made by means of a plurality of magnets. A sound producing unit and a light emitting unit are provided in the toy so as to be actuated when the attachments each are combined with the toy body.
Similar devices are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,883,984, 3,375,604, 2,465,971, and 2,457,249.
As will be appreciated, none of these prior patents even address the problem faced by applicant let alone offer the solution proposed herein.